Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter to the Board of Medicine for the District of Columbia calling on it to determine whether former President Joe Biden‘s physician, Kevin O’Connor, should lose his license.
The letter, sent to Dr. Andrea Anderson, chairwoman of the board, comes as the Oversight Committee releases its investigation into Biden’s cognitive decline and zeroes in on O’Connor’s repeated invocation of the Fifth Amendment during his testimony, as well as whether he played a key role in what the committee believes was a cover-up.
“Because Dr. O’Connor refused to testify, questions about President Biden’s health — including his capacity to exercise the duties of the Office of the Presidency — remain unanswered,” Comer wrote in the letter.
“If Dr. O’Connor failed to meet his minimum standard of care to the president, intentionally misled the American public, or authored false health reports on President Biden, then the Committee believes Dr. O’Connor should be barred from the practice of medicine in the District of Columbia,” the letter continued.
O’Connor is mentioned a handful of times in the Oversight Committee’s 100-page report released on Tuesday, with the first section honing in on his involvement in the suspected cover-up.
Serving as Biden’s personal physician since 2009, O’Connor was one of three former aides who invoked their Fifth Amendment right during the series of transcribed interviews conducted as part of the investigation into the administration’s use of an autopen.
The report found that O’Connor did not perform any cognitive assessments, saying they are “meaningless,” or mention additional prescription drugs used by Biden, saying he was “influenced by political advisors and that his financial ties to the Biden family presented conflicts of interest.”
O’Connor was also tied to the Biden family after a meeting with Biden’s brother, Jim Biden, about the company Americore.
Comer also wrote a letter to the Department of Justice asking it to investigate O’Connor further and to look into the three individuals who invoked their Fifth Amendment right, saying they were “deeply involved in cover-up.”
“We request that you undertake an investigation to determine if any action taken by these three individuals during the course of their official duties in the Biden White House constitutes criminal activity,” the letter to the DOJ said.
The committee’s report also said O’Connor discussed a broader strategy with senior aides surrounding cognitive exams and how to respond to press inquiries. Former Biden chief of staff Jeff Zients said he “thinks” the physician was involved in some meetings, but noted that he was not part of the daily senior staff meetings.
The report outlined that while O’Connor performed multiple neurological exams to see if they signaled Parkinson’s disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, primary lateral sclerosis, or cervical myelopathy, previous White House physicians, including former President Barack Obama’s physician, said O’Connor should have performed cognitive assessments.
The committee said former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre played a central role in the “cover-up,” as it mentioned the memo O’Connor sent to her following Dr. Kevin Cannard’s, a neurologist, eight visits to the White House over eight months. The memo was part of Biden’s annual physical, which noted that the neurological exam did not show signs of stroke, multiple sclerosis, or Parkinson’s.
A year ago, Comer sought an interview with O’Connor, but the Biden White House blocked his appearance before the GOP-led House. In May, Comer wrote a letter to O’Connor requesting that the physician voluntarily sit for transcribed interviews as part of an investigation into Biden’s mental and physical decline. After O’Connor said no, Comer subpoenaed him the following month, demanding he appear for a deposition, which was held on July 9.
O’Connor’s lawyers emphasized to the Washington Examiner in a statement following his deposition that “asserting the Fifth Amendment privilege does not imply that Dr. O’Connor has committed any crime.” Prior to his deposition date, O’Connor’s lawyers asked for a delay, citing that he could face “serious consequences” for violating his obligations as a physician, including losing his medical license. Comer declined the request.
“We are unaware of any prior occasion on which a Congressional Committee has subpoenaed a physician to testify about the treatment of an individual patient,” O’Connor’s lawyers wrote at the time. “And the notion that a Congressional Committee would do so without any regard whatsoever for the confidentiality of the physician-patient relationship is alarming.”
The committee sharply scrutinized the claim of physician-patient confidentiality in the report, saying, “The physician-patient privilege is inapplicable to a deposition before Congress pursuant to a subpoena.”
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While it is legal for the president to utilize an autopen for official business, Republicans aimed to investigate whether Biden was fully aware of or explicitly authorized such activity.
The Washington Examiner reached out to O’Connor’s lawyers, the Board of Medicine for the District of Columbia, and the DOJ for comment.